PART 15

BELIEF - FACT AND FAITH

When people fantasize about a perfect life, they usually envision
great personal wealth; which frees them from the necessity of going
to work each day, and worrying about apportioning out their income in
order to pay the bills. It allows them to acquire the things they
desire; perhaps even staff to take care of the mundane cooking and
cleaning. They dream of having all the things that money can buy. The
parts of the fantasy add up to what they truly desire: freedom from
the stress of competition; where they no longer have to struggle to
get ahead in life, but simply enjoy it.

When people fantasize about a perfect existence, such as the type
promised by religions, they envision a state of bliss. Existence free
from all stress and competition; unhampered by the pressures of the
material world. For some it is a natural setting without the
trappings of modern civilization: there are no expensive automobiles,
yachts, or fancy clothes in this dream. Whether it is the vision of
substance held by the Western religions, or the release from the
physical realm desired by other beliefs, the result is the same: an
end to the struggle that is part of life.

The two fantasies have the same fundamental goal, but the
differences are significant. The first dream is constrained by
reason: however unlikely, it is seen as a logical possibility. The
second dream is spiritual imagery, and does not require an empirical
connection to reality. One is only what people can hope for, the
other is beyond what they feel is realistic to desire. The important
point is that when people imagine perfection that is unrestricted by
the physical world, materialism and competitiveness disappear.

There are two aspects to the way we perceive the world. There is
that which is connected to the physical: things and concepts we can
see, and verify logically. There is the spiritual: concepts of the
mind which are abstract, without tangible substance, and frequently
difficult or impossible to establish empirically. The two perceptions
are often categorized as being based on either fact, or belief. The
physical world is defined rationally, with substantive data to prove
something, or sufficient related evidence to reason toward a
conclusion. A mental perception of the world might not have adequate
proof to define something as fact, and is therefore belief or
theory.

Mankind’s mental ability to reason abstractly is responsible for
that which separates our species from the others on this planet. To
move beyond the obvious requires a spiritual nature; and much of our
technology is built upon this ability to believe something, without
having any hard evidence to support it. Most of our advanced
scientific knowledge began with concepts that were not provable at
the time: the notion of the atom was theorized by the Greeks
thousands of years ago; and even today, the theory of Quantum Physics
is not supported by any physical evidence. Complex scientific ideas
often begin as mental explanations for observable phenomenon. Rules
are created to account for events, and if the rules consistently work
over a sufficient period of time, we consider them to be true.

Our ability to learn of the remarkable properties of the physical
world is dependent upon our mental powers; and the conclusions we
reach are subject to our perceptions, and a finite amount of
knowledge: therefore, even what we see as the truest of “facts”, may
actually be false. Every old belief, that we now find amusing, was at
one time the product of the greatest minds and most advanced
scientific techniques in existence: the situation today is no
different. For example: we believe there are subatomic particles, and
we build machines to verify that this is so. Each machine that does
not give us the result we desire is discarded, because it obviously
doesn’t work; and we continue to change them until we make one that
proves our theory. If any subsequent machines disagree with our
belief, we consider them to be flawed, because we only have faith in
the one that provides us with the “correct” answer: yet logically,
the only thing that makes this particular machine “right”, and all of
the others “wrong”, is the fact that it validates our belief. This is
an oversimplification of the concept, but the fact remains that much
of our knowledge is based upon circular arguments: “our theory
correctly explains the phenomenon, and the phenomenon occurs because
our theory is correct”. As history has demonstrated, mankind will
blindly cling to a belief until the evidence against it becomes
overwhelming.

Fundamentally, there is only one principle that is unquestionable:
you exist as a consciousness at this moment, because you are aware of
your existence at this moment: all else, including a memory of a past
prior to this instant, could be an illusion created by your
awareness. Obviously, you cannot go through life accepting that this
is the only truth, and nothing else is as it seems: our faith in the
existence of the corporeal world allows us to function within it.
This does mean, however, that everything beyond this unquestionable
truth is by definition, only a belief; because you cannot prove
otherwise. This is not to say that we should be skeptical of
everything, but we must be prepared to question the “truest” of
claims; and not simply accept them because they are commonly held to
be infallible.

If everything aside from our own self-awareness is a belief, how
does one determine between a logical belief, and one that is
irrational? One must apply reason to all principles. Some may say
that this is apparent: but in practice, such is definitely not the
case. The most obvious example is organized religion: the thousands
of different versions, each claiming to be the one true system, are
all basing this conclusion on blind faith. The members believe that
their particular sect is true, yet there is no sound justification
for this: aside from the common principles of moral behaviour shared
by all religions, the differences in doctrine are based on the
unsubstantiated claims of individuals.

Religion may be the most easily recognized demonstration of belief
without reasoning, but blind faith exists in many forms. The people
who believe that capital punishment deters crime, in spite of the
fact it has been proven beyond doubt that it does not; those who
insist that the Earth has infinite resources, contrary to simple
logic; and groups that insist that Caucasians are superior to other
races, while “begging the question”: not only rely on blind faith,
but actually believe in things that are patently false. They do this,
because these beliefs are the cornerstones to the more complex ideals
that they have built their lives upon; and to lose the myths that
support their illusion of reality, is to lose their self-structure.
The fear of such an event will not allow them to risk having reason
affect their convictions.

Blind faith has always been a major part of human society. The
vast majority of people lack the resources and inclination to
establish that what they know, is actually true: we accept what we
are told by experts, and live by the assumption that these
individuals have proof of the soundness of their conclusions. This
system works reasonably well, and common knowledge has been right
more often than wrong. The drawback to trusting those who disseminate
information, is that it can lead to the widespread acceptance of
something that is untrue. Aside from the chance of error, there is
also the practice of intentionally promoting a false ideal. The
persons who control society rightly see the majority of people as
simple sheep, who can be herded in a desired direction. Due to this
conformity, beliefs are cultivated that control and manipulate
society, often because leaders feel that the public cannot cope with
the truth: you can be certain that a significant portion of your
knowledge falls within this category.

Using deceit to guide society, in a way that is perceived to be in
its best interests, can effectively maintain compliance and
conformity: but there are two major problems with this. Although most
people are incapable of dealing with the complexities of the
technological and moral issues that govern modern society; a great
many of them could, if given the opportunity. We are told what to
believe, and how to behave, from birth. A minority of people are able
to subvert this pattern of conditioning, and become the independent
thinkers: many of whom develop into the controllers of society. We
then have a relatively small number of individuals who are attempting
to solve the world’s problems. Others, who need more information in
order to “break from the herd”, could expand the total number of
minds being applied toward understanding the universe, and how we fit
within it.

The reason accurate knowledge is not readily going to be made
available to the masses is due to the second problem with our control
system. Whereas many leaders truly have mankind’s best interests at
heart, a great many others use their power for entirely self-serving
purposes, and can be a destructive force within society: it is not in
their best interests to encourage free thought. These self-centered
individuals may be reasonably intelligent, but they are narrowly
focused on power and material gain; and accomplish these goals
through utilizing the blindly obedient nature of the majority.
Opportunistic leaders of this kind are actually casualties of the
very system they now control: and have had the artificial ideal, that
material pursuits are the meaning of life, instilled into them by
their predecessors. Such people are as much victims of conditioning,
as the bulk of humanity; and blindly strive for more power and money
without ever completing their quest: continuing to compete, even
after accumulating great authority and wealth. The truth of the
matter is that for most of these people, materialism cannot satisfy
their deepest desire for freedom, and they simply continue along the
same path. Even after gaining billions of dollars, they feel
unfulfilled, and have no idea of what else to do: so they desperately
follow the same narrow vision, until death finally brings them
peace.

Continuing to accept the manipulation of the general population
may not seem to be a negative thing: after all, most people would
rather live as sheep, without the obligations that come with
independent thought. There will always be those who simply exist:
they become aware, live as they have been trained to do, and then
die; all without any comprehension of anything beyond their own
day-to-day concerns, and with little or no positive impact upon the
world.

The problem with the status quo, is that the system is not
working. We have advanced to the point where we are capable of
providing enough food to maintain the well-being of everyone on
Earth; medical technology can cure a seemingly endless number of
ailments and extend the human life span; industrialization has
provided the means to shelter all people and give them a level of
self-sufficiency: yet only fifteen to twenty percent of mankind sees
any substantial benefit from our scientific prowess. The vast
majority of people suffer as they have for thousands of years. Our
inventiveness has not eliminated war, nor reduced violent crime: it
has only given us more efficient tools for killing one another. Our
population continues to increase, while we progressively strip the
planet of resources and other life forms. Leaving mankind’s destiny
in the hands of the few is not only failing to improve the lot of the
majority: it is gradually leading all of us toward a crisis of epic
proportions.

There are no quick solutions to the problems facing humanity, but
there is a way to begin moving in the right direction. It does not
demand revolution, or drastic upheaval; nor does it even require
organization. All that is needed, is for individuals to begin to sort
out their lives, and realize what is truly important to them. If
people concentrate on eliminating the obstacles that prevent them
from reaching inner peace, through acquiring understanding: the
larger problems will take care of themselves. Just as all things are
components of the whole; the difficulties of each individual are the
components of our global dilemma. To understand, and appreciate, what
is meaningful in life; and to see the artificial, conditioned ideals
for what they are; not only frees you from the stress and competition
in your life: it will eventually lead to a better life for all of
humanity.